The equines made a trip to visit Dr. Scott Camack today to be freeze branded before we head to Texas. Freeze branding is a technique which uses extreme cold to kill the pigment cells in the hair but not the actual hair follicle. This makes for a much prettier (and less painful) brand in the long run. The branding iron is placed in liquid nitrogen for several minutes and gets VERY cold. Then, you place the iron on the shaved area of the horse where you'd like the brand to go (in this case the right hip), press for about thirty seconds, and presto! you have a beautiful brand. The hair grows out white in a few weeks.
Since the branding iron is so cold (and they wouldn't enjoy the experience very much), Dr. Camack gave these guys some sleepy-time drugs. As you can see, they were pretty out of it...
The 6 over 9 brand was given to Dane by his grandpa Darrel Griffith, who went to be with Jesus last April. They shared a birthday (February 8th) and now share a brand. Dane was so proud to put his grandpa's brand on his three favorite horses.
Lizzie's brand is a great example of what the mark looks like right after it's done. The skin swells a bit so the brand is raised. The swelling goes down in a day or two, and then you can't see the brand until the hair grows in white.
Judah - the horse with the never ending personality. He was drugged up and sleepy, so he thought it was too much work to hold up his own head. Lizzie's rump made a nice resting place.
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